K88 Touchscreen Failure

[mjmclendon]

The good: My Kronos 88 has been working like a champ for the three months I have owned it.

The bad: The touchscreen failed to register my touch a couple of weeks ago and I reported it to my USA dealer (Sweetwater). They were very helpful with identifying local service operations so that I would not have to crate and ship the instrument at my expense.

The ugly: Subsequently the display's touchscreen has resumed working on some start-ups only to partially work on other start-ups. The KRONOS power on self-test (POST) does not test the touchscreen. This fault is not acceptable so to repair it must go! I contacted the local Korg authorized service shop and they are ready to take it on.

Will the root cause be:

1. Infant mortality of an electronic component
2. A poor connection / connectorized cable loose
3. Manufacturing defect
4. Engineering defect

I will log the milestones here in my quest to get it repaired. Fortunately it is under warranty.

So Oct 4, 2011 - I carefully transported the instrument to the shop. The proprietor advised that Korg USA may take as long as 4-6 weeks to provide a replacement part. I thanked him for setting my expectations to an appropriate low level.

Stay tuned!

[Ksynth]

Hope you get it fixed very soon. 4-6 weeks is too long.

Do you leave the K switched on much - say 6 hours each day / night?

Do you move it to gigs etc?

Just curious.

[PianoManChuck]

Man that sucks... and that could probably happen to any of us at any time. Hope you get it back sooner than later.

[michelkeijzers]

One time my M50 display did not work anymore, but since it was right after transport I assumed a connection problem. I opened it and very carefully disconnected and reconnected all cables to the display and it helped. However, it was quite tricky to do (removing chip boards and lots of screws).

[mjmclendon]

Hope you get it fixed very soon. 4-6 weeks is too long.

Do you leave the K switched on much - say 6 hours each day / night?

Do you move it to gigs etc?

Just curious.

The K88 is not gigged and is never moved from its stand at my residence. It gets played 3-4 times a week for a few hours at a time and longer on some weekends. After beinf away for over a week on vacation, I first encountered the fault upon my return. Now that might very well be an electronic failure.

[panrixx]

The K88 is not gigged and is never moved from its stand at my residence. It gets played 3-4 times a week for a few hours at a time and longer on some weekends. After beinf away for over a week on vacation, I first encountered the fault upon my return. Now that might very well be an electronic failure.

Please log your faulty touch screen here

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... sc&start=0

[joe in VA]

I would get them to do the RAM upgrade while it's apart.

[Ksynth]

I would get them to do the RAM upgrade while it's apart.

Great idea though I doubt it will happen.

[mjmclendon]

Called the Korg Authorized Service shop in Raleigh, NC, USA. I was informed that the technician is busy and has not looked at the workstation but perhaps he might look at it today and give me a call.

I hope he is not busy working on Kronos workstations! In all fairness they service many keyboard manufacturer's products and audio equipment.

[Davidb]

The good: My Kronos 88 has been working like a champ for the three months I have owned it.

The bad: The touchscreen failed to register my touch a couple of weeks ago and I reported it to my USA dealer (Sweetwater). They were very helpful with identifying local service operations so that I would not have to crate and ship the instrument at my expense.

The ugly: Subsequently the display's touchscreen has resumed working on some start-ups only to partially work on other start-ups. The KRONOS power on self-test (POST) does not test the touchscreen. This fault is not acceptable so to repair it must go! I contacted the local Korg authorized service shop and they are ready to take it on.

Will the root cause be:

1. Infant mortality of an electronic component
2. A poor connection / connectorized cable loose
3. Manufacturing defect
4. Engineering defect

I will log the milestones here in my quest to get it repaired. Fortunately it is under warranty.

So Oct 4, 2011 - I carefully transported the instrument to the shop. The proprietor advised that Korg USA may take as long as 4-6 weeks to provide a replacement part. I thanked him for setting my expectations to an appropriate low level.

Stay tuned!

I´m sorry to read your post.
Let us know how it goes on...

I hope it will be solved soon, and hopefully under those 6 weeks they told you!

[sparkie]

Called the Korg Authorized Service shop in Raleigh, NC, USA. I was informed that the technician is busy and has not looked at the workstation but perhaps he might look at it today and give me a call.

I hope he is not busy working on Kronos workstations! In all fairness they service many keyboard manufacturer's products and audio equipment.

So you spend 4K for a keyboard, then 3 mos later it has a problem and you are concerned about the technician being busy?? Wow you need the Gold Medal of Honor as a customer. I would have got a refund or replacement. Its your money!

[Bertotti]

Electronics are funny. You can have a maginal part work for years no problem and a high quality part fail with in hours or months, it happens. I know there are numerous problem threads bu can help but wonder how bad it is in the grand scheme of things. I would be irritated, upset and highly cautious after a early failure as well. I would also keep good documents of any problems for future reference but I think the odds are in you favor it will be resolved. I guess I equate it to cars in some ways. Growing up here in the state we had the main three, Chevy, Ford, and Mopar. I always had problems with Chevies while Dodge was like a rock for me a great vehicle every time while others had opposite experiences. I'll never understand how it is but I accept it just is.

[Hedegaard]

4-6 weeks is perfectly acceptable time frame within the after sales service. Its a big instrument, only a few service centers are authorized by Korg to repair it. Service centers usually don't carry a warehouse of expensive parts, these they order separately from the manufacturer.

So, the time frame is:
-transport from you to service center
-repair time
-transport back to you

ALL within 4-6 weeks? Its pretty good.

No reason to complain about that at all!

[Hedegaard]

Called the Korg Authorized Service shop in Raleigh, NC, USA. I was informed that the technician is busy and has not looked at the workstation but perhaps he might look at it today and give me a call.

I hope he is not busy working on Kronos workstations! In all fairness they service many keyboard manufacturer's products and audio equipment.

So you spend 4K for a keyboard, then 3 mos later it has a problem and you are concerned about the technician being busy?? Wow you need the Gold Medal of Honor as a customer. I would have got a refund or replacement. Its your money!

Its not his MONEY. Its his INSTRUMENT.
The two are not to be confused with each other.

[Hedegaard]

Called the Korg Authorized Service shop in Raleigh, NC, USA. I was informed that the technician is busy and has not looked at the workstation but perhaps he might look at it today and give me a call.

I hope he is not busy working on Kronos workstations! In all fairness they service many keyboard manufacturer's products and audio equipment.

That sounds like standard behaviour.
Your instrument is not the only instrument in the shop.
By calling and pestering the technicians to answer "status" questions, is in fact stealing resources and time away from actually repairing things.
Best to not call, and just send an email after the 6 weeks.

I work as a service manager in this "industry" and basically there are 2 types of customers:
1- The ones that need to get bitch-slapped.
2- The ones that you can only sigh and do a face-palm about.

You wouldn't believe how naive and ignorant customers are about the law and most expect lightning fast service and a little "extra" (like a packet of sweets sent along with the item) all the time not paying a cent for any of it.

Of course nice customers too, you know, actual breathing "normal" people. Thank God for them, or this job would be a constant reality distortion and the only option out is suicide (which you sometimes wish your customers would do:) )